Roles Of Women In The 1920s Essay

While researching online sources about the 1920’s and the role women played economically and socially, I found a few authors who wrote journals, newspapers and articles about the explicit details surrounding what changed with women. These authors often spoke about how the roles of women varied considerably. An examination of the record, however, reveals that historians have repeated these descriptions not because research and analysis have confirmed their validity, but because no new questions have been asked about women in the 1920s since the initial impressionistic observations were made. The fact that these interpretations have been handed down for forty years with very little modification makes them suspect, and closer analysis confirms

that several important historical questions have remained unanswered. Who precisely was the new woman; what was her fate after1920’s? Specifically historians need to clarify whether enfranchisement affected women's efforts for social reform and for equal rights for their sex; precisely what economic gains women made; and how widely and deeply the moral revolution extended. Original and creative use of primary resources is necessary to answer
these questions.
My goal in this paper is to understand what has already been written about women in the 1920s. This essay seeks to provide this information by tracing interpretations of the new woman from the 1920s to the present. The influence of historical events and the emphases on political and legal rights as opposed to broader feminist goals is of central concern. But of even greater significance is the “shift of conceptual frameworks from the contemporary analysis of the 1920s to the current quasi-feminist approach” (Freedman).

Historical context
During the 1920’s women had began to change their roles in society to show that they can be more than what they appeared. Before the 1920’s women were second class citizens that came second in society, they did not have the same privileges as men did. Many women also did not have jobs which contributed to society because women were busy at home taking care of their children and their homes. Also the expectations of men were to be the supporters of the family which made women the housewife. Women were represented as well mannered and proper or a better term “lady like.” Soon after they began to change how society portrayed them. Women's changing roles in the 1920’s influenced other women to gain more responsibilities and show men that they are just as equal as they are, such as how they dressed, women’s patriotism, and women’s employment.
Women began to grow more independent. Manufacturing, production and efficiency increased as result of necessity from the war. They were forced to work and to earn their own money which was the first step towards their independence. Especially after the war women came to the conclusion that there had to be more in life than just looking after the children and the house. By earning the right to vote in 1920 women made their biggest step in being accepted as equal members of society. This freedom changed women’s attitude totally. They started drinking alcohol, smoking and dancing.

Impact of World War 1.

The attitude and role of women changed during WW1, as many women took on the jobs of men. The influence and expectations of women, and their roles in society, increased during the 1920’s. They labored on the home front and overseas. They took jobs on the nation’s farms in factories, and in shipyards, and served in its military forces. Approximately a million women filled the vacancies left by the men who were now in uniform. Many were young girl’s who had previously worked in local shops and department stores or who had never worked before. Many were wives who had once worked, but had left their jobs to raise families. World War I also marked an important “first” for American women. For the first time in the nation’s history, women were permitted to join the armed forces. “Some 13,000, known as “Yeomanettes,” enlisted in the navy to do clerical work stateside. Nearly 300 entered the Marine Corps as clerks and won the name “Marinettes.” More than 230 women traveled to France as part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. There, they served as telephone operators for the American Expeditionary force” (Boelcke). This led to women working in areas of work that were formerly  reserved for men, for example as railway guards and ticket collectors, buses and tram conductors, postal workers, police, firefighters and as bank ‘tellers’ and clerks. Some women also worked heavy or precision machinery in engineering, led cart horses on farms, and worked in the civil service

and factories. However, they received lower wages for doing the same work, and thus began some of the earliest demands for equal pay.
But because women were paid less than men, there was a worry that employers would continue to employ women in these jobs even when the men returned from the war.

This did not happen; either the women were sacked to make way for the returning soldiers or women remained working alongside men but at lower wage rates. But even before the end of the war, many women refused to accept lower pay for what in most cases was the same work as had been done previously by men. During WWI When men were at war the women took the place of men at their jobs that were dangerous and a men’s job. These jobs included: Working as conductors of trams or buses and on farms In engineering, in highly dangerous munitions Industries. “There was a high demand of women to do heavy lifting such as unloading coal, stocking furnaces and building ships” (Boelcke). After WWI, more jobs came open for women. These jobs included: Teacher, secretaries, typists, nurses, seamstresses. Even when men came back from war, women continued to stay in the

workforce.
But because women were paid less than men, there was a worry that employers would continue to employ women in these jobs even when the men returned from the war. “This did not happen; either the women were sacked to make way for the returning soldiers or women remained working alongside men but at lower wage rates” (Boelcke). But even before the end of the war, many women refused to accept lower pay for what in most cases was the same work as had been done previously by men.